GHAZIABAD: An eight-year-old boy missing since Friday was found dead in Bamheta area of Ghaziabad on Sunday. The boy has been identified as Nitesh, a Class II student of a private school in Kavi Nagar area.Nitesh had gone missing from the rented accommodation in which he lived with his parents and younger brother in Sriram Enclave, moments after returning from school. On Sunday morning, Nitesh’s relatives were pasting missing posters in the locality when they were informed of a kid’s body lying near a drain around a kilometre away. Nitesh’s father Naval, a mason, rushed there along with other relatives and identified the body as that of his son.The boy’s uncle, Umesh, said the family had shifted from another rented accommodation in the same area around a week ago. “After coming from school, Nitesh ran to the lane where our cousin Pappu lives. He got a balloon from Pappu’s house and ran back home. Nitesh’s mother had seen him running towards home with the balloon. He suddenly went missing thereafter,” said Umesh.The boy’s relatives and neighbours launched a search for him and informed the police control room. “We informed the local police outpost too. We got posters printed on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Naval had sent a few acquaintances to the side of the drain to paste the posters. They returned and informed that the body of a boy resembling Nitesh was lying near the drain,” Umesh added.Police sources said the body was clad only in trousers and bore injury marks on the face and hands. The boy’s parents said they suspected another mason, Kailash, who lives in a house adjoining their old rented accommodation from where they shifted a week ago. The boy’s family has alleged that they were forced to shift to the new house because of constant bickering with Kailash’s family.An FIR has been registered against unknown persons under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC.“The case has been registered against unidentified persons because no concrete evidence of their old neighbour’s involvement was provided by the family. A formal complaint was lodged only after the boy’s body was found on Sunday. The autopsy report has revealed strangulation as cause of death. The boy’s family did not receive any ransom call,” Ghaziabad SP (city) Shlok Kumar said.

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